Australian Government committed to energy research.

On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has  announced up to $40 million in funding to support research and development that aims to support the achievement of the Government’s ultra low cost solar stretch goal.

The R&D funding round will build on ARENA’s previous R&D investment into solar PV and will seek to support projects that align with ARENA’s Solar 30 30 30 target of 30% module efficiency and 30 cents per installed watt at utility scale by 2030.

ARENA invites applications that can materially reduce the levelised cost of solar PV by 2030 across two streams:

• Stream 1 – Cells and Modules: Building on Australia’s leading track record of R&D and innovation in solar cells and modules
• Stream 2 – Balance of system, operations and maintenance: Seeking to broaden the approach to accelerate innovation that can drive down the upfront and ongoing costs of utility scale solar PV in the field.

ARENA currently expects to allocate up to $20 million in total funding to each of the two streams.  Read more….